Pumpkin pie, here we are again. This is a fairly traditional recipe, with evaporated milk in the filling, and the normal spices.
The pie is topped with pepitas and a fantastic pecan brown butter streusel that’s probably the best streusel I’ve ever made. It needs to go on top of everything. This is my last attempt before Thanksgiving – and I’ll probably go back to the Fine Cooking recipe again this year.
My dedication to getting this right has reached new heights – I actually tasted the filling before it cooked (for spices). And then… I ate a bite of pie. I almost threw it up. So gross. But I tried to concentrate on just the facts – balance of flavors, texture. It seemed okay. Not a bad attempt. Larry thought it was fine.
The crust, on the other hand, gave me all sorts of trouble. I really should have stuck with my go-to pie crust, but no. I used the one in the recipe, which has a bit of lard in in (any excuse to use some of the leaf lard I scored last month). The recipe says it will seem kind of dry before it goes into the refrigerator to chill, but it was way too dry. I knew it, but I didn’t add any more water, because I worried I’d make it tough.
It was impossible to work with. I had to keep adding water to get it rolled out, and I handled it so much I could feel the gluten forming. It was flaky, but tough. Blah.
- Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Brown Butter Streusel (Food & Wine, October 2010)
